Mbappé grew up in Bondy, a working-class suburb of northeast Paris. His father Wilfried was a coach at the local non-league club AS Bondy, his mother Fayza was a professional handball player. And his now 28-year-old adopted brother Jires Kembo Ekoko is a professional footballer who currently plays for Bursaspor in Turkey.

At seven, Mbappé started playing for his father's club and as soon as he was competing against older boys, it was clear that he was a rare talent. The first scouts appeared when Mbappé was ten years old and Chelsea made the first big step by inviting Kylian for a week´s trial at their training ground when he was eleven years old. The Mbappé family didn´t refuse, but their real plan was different. His father went to London for the experience, while Kylian himself enjoyed seeing one of Europe´s biggest clubs and meeting his role models, but neither of them intended to leave France for long. During his time in England, Mbappé played one game for the Blues under-12 side, an 8:0 win against Charlton Athletic. He then played alongside players like Tammy Abraham or Jeremie Boga, who are still under contract at Chelsea but loaned out to Swansea and Birmingham, respectively. Nevertheless, he wasn´t blown away by this trip. Because of his self-confidence and self-assessment, he knew that he could play for such a club one day, but it was too early at that time. At the end of the week, Chelsea had been keen to offer the talent a place in their academy, but his family, though grateful, did not contemplate it at all and returned to France.

Six months after coming home from England, Kylian Mbappé joined Clairefontaine, an academy run by the French Football Association, while still going home on the weekends to play for AS Bondy. In December 2012, Wilfried Mbappé received a call from Real Madrid, inviting him and his son to travel to the Spanish capital for a trial in the same week Kylian turned 14. Most young boys and their families would have jumped at this once-in-a-lifetime chance, but not the Mbappés. They approached it the same way they had Chelsea. They would go only for the experience. Mbappé trained with real´s second team, met Zidane and shot his famous picture with Cristiano Ronaldo, but it didn´t change the fact that the youthful was determined to stay in France.

After two productive years at Clairefontaine, Mbappé chose to continue his football education at AS Monaco, lured by the reputation of their academy and the knowledge he would have the chance to play in their first team as soon as possible. There, the Frenchman developed into one of the world's most exciting players, becoming Monaco's youngest-ever player and goalscorer in his first season. His goals helped them win the French title and reach the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2017.

Then last summer, when Real Madrid returned for Mbappé and had a bid of 180 million euros accepted, it was assumed he would leap at the chance to join his hero, Ronaldo. It was all done, but KM refused. A month later, he became the second-most expensive player in history when for the same fee he chose to join Paris Saint-Germain, which came as little surprise to those who know the Mbappé family and Kylian's career plan.

At 19-years-old, Kylian Mbappé now sees himself playing alongside Neymar and Cavani in one of the best-attacking trios in Europe. At the time of writing, he scored 16 goals and assisted 14 in 29 games, will most likely win the French league and is playing against Real Madrid in the Champions League. His perfectly thought-out plan is coming true right now…

Paris Saint Germain took on reigning French Champions Monaco tonight which saw Kylian Mbappe face his former side for the first time since signing for PSG in the summer.

The away side were dominant throughout with Neymar in particular showing his worth. At one stage the Brazilian winger dribbled the ball around several Monaco midfielders before playing an inch perfect through-ball to Kylian Mbappe, only for the 18-year old to put it wide.

Shortly after this dreadful miss, PSG got some reward for all their pressure as Edison Cavani put the Parisians 1-0 ahead. After the half time break PSG were awarded a penalty following Neymar being fouled in the box, which he himself converted to make it 2-0.

PSG were the commanding side remainder of the game and won comfortably, despite a late consolation goal making the final scoreline a 2-1 victory for the away side.

​Paris Saint Germain broke the bank this summer to sign Barcelona’s Neymar Jr for a staggering world-record fee of £198m. And they didn’t stop there. The Parisians then went on to sign Kylian Mbappe on a season-long loan with an agreement to sign him next summer for £166m. With those two new signings and last season’s Ligue 1 top goal-scorer, Edison Cavani, PSG may well possess the best attack in football.

I’m not definitively saying MCN (Mbappe, Cavani and Neymar) are the best attacking trio in the world, but it’s hard to think of a front line more frightening than those three. Perhaps Barcelona’s Messi, Suarez and Dembele, or Real Madrid’s Ronaldo, Benzema and Bale could rival MCN, but it’s very close. I could write endlessly about Real Madrid and Barcelona’s attacks, but for now I’d like to focus on PSG.

I’m going to start with perhaps the weakest member of PSG’s attack, Edison Cavani. Many have criticised the Uruguayan’s finishing ability, highlighting how wasteful he is in front of goal. I agree he isn’t the most efficient striker out there, but he certainly isn’t as bad as people say. Last season he scored 35 goals in 36 games, which was 7 goals more than what any other player in the French league could manage. That being said, he did finish the season with a relatively mediocre 53% shot accuracy (significantly lower than that most of Europe’s other elite strikers).

Cavani’s finishing ability does need to be worked on, but other than that, he’s a good all-round striker. I’m not going to claim he’s the best striker in the world, but he’s more than capable of leading the line in Paris.

PSG’s latest signing, Kylian Mbappe, only sprung to notoriety last season. The 18-year-old exploded onto the scene for Monaco in the Champions League in Spring 2017, which is when the hype around him started to grow. Truthfully, though, he’d already been tearing it up in Ligue 1 that season – he ended the campaign with 26 goals in 44 matches in all competitions.

£166m is a lot to pay for any player, let alone a teenager with very little experience at the highest level. Signing Mbappe was a huge risk for PSG. This risk, though, looks like it might just pay off – the Frenchman has already scored two goals in three games and hasn’t shown any signs of being a one-season wonder.

It’s hard to describe Kylian Mbappe’s play-style. He’s very quick with his feet and has the confidence to try anything while possessing the ability to pull it off. He’s a sensational player and at the age of just 18, the only way is up.

Last, but certainly not least, we have the world’s most expensive footballer, Neymar Jr. The 25-year-old is one of the greatest players of his generation and I have no doubt that he’ll one day win the Ballon d’Or.

In case you aren’t familiar with Neymar, the Brazilian winger signed for PSG this summer for £198m from FC Barcelona. His Barca career was littered with goals, trophies and a whole host of other accolades. Neymar clearly felt it was time to move on though, and I personally think moving to PSG is the best decision of his career (click here to find out why).

Since moving to PSG, Neymar has scored 5 goals and registered 5 assists in just 6 games. For a winger - in fact, for any player - that’s outstanding.

I’m very excited to see how MCN get on this season in Paris. The trio are terrifying in terms of their individual quality. The one problem I have seen, though, is their inability to get on and work together. We've already seen arguments between Neymar and Edison Cavani on the pitch over set-pieces, and if this continues then PSG will be held back. Stuff like this shouldn't be underestimated - you can have the best team in the world, but if the players don't get on the team won't win anything.

The main question I'm here to answer, though, is: are MCN the best front three in the world? To be completely honest, it’s too early to say. They have the potential to do well, but cracks have already started to show in their relationship. Come back to me in a couple of months’ time and I’ll give you a proper answer.

After allowing the news that Neymar has officially signed for PSG sink in for a day or so, I’ve decided to give my thoughts on the signing.

Although many people have expressed how disappointed they are in Neymar for leaving Barcelona, I actually think it’s a very wise choice on his part. In my humble opinion, if Neymar had stayed at FC Barcelona for his entire career he’d be second to Messi in the history books. Not only would Barcelona fans glorify Messi more so than his ex-teammate, but also the football world in general will look back at this generation and call Messi the greatest. No matter how you look at it, Messi would always have been number one.

At PSG Neymar has a chance to become his own person. He’ll no longer be attached to MSN and will be able to show the world what he's capable of doing on his own. Obviously PSG have an outstanding squad, however, here Neymar is able to be the main man whereas at Barcelona that role was already taken by Lionel Messi.

Critics will be far harsher towards Neymar at PSG than they were before, not only because of his astronomical transfer fee, but also because he will be playing in the French league – where the standard is lower than La Liga. In terms of goals and assists, Neymar will have to go above and beyond any other player on the planet for him to even be considered as a potential Ballon d’Or winner – an award that I believe he is more than capable of winning.

Neymar also has the opportunity to lead a side to Champions League glory. I know he’s already won this competition before with Barcelona, but now he has the chance to do it with a team who are historically far less successful. If he manages to win the UCL with PSG (for the first time in their history) it will have a lot more of an influence on his legacy than if he were to simply just win it for a second time with Barcelona.

The final aspect of this transfer is, of course, the money. The fee Barcelona received for Neymar was in the region of £200m. This completely demolishes the previous world-record fee that was set last year when Manchester United signed Paul Pogba for £89m. Although PSG are notorious for being a club with a lot of money to throw around, a figure like this is extraordinary even by their standards. I think this transfer has paved the way for even more ridiculous transfers to take place in the future. Kylian Mbappe is coming through the ranks at Monaco and it’s only a matter of time before he is sold to one of Europe’s elite clubs. How much would he be worth? £150 million? £200 million? More...?

I honestly do believe this transfer will be remembered as one of the biggest moments in football history. Neymar signing for PSG means we'll be able to see how he'll develop on his own (without being in Messi’s shadow). He has the opportunity to prove himself and perhaps even stake a claim for why he should be remembered as one of football’s greatest ever players. On top of that, as I wrote earlier, financially speaking this move has changed everything.

Those are my pretty much all of my thoughts on the matter. If you disagree with anything I’ve written or would like to continue the conversation, get in touch with us on Twitter @socabol – I will personally reply to everyone! Thanks.

Alvaro Morata is set to join Man United for a reported £65 million... but will he replace Zlatan? Poet and Vuj discuss this, Lacazette to Arsenal, Verratti to Barcelona and more of the transfers and rumours in this week's Comments Below Transfer Special!